What do I gain from joining crowds? Does self‐expansion help to explain the relationship between identity fusion, group efficacy and collective action?

Abstract

Four studies were carried out to examine how identity fusion, self‐ and group efficacy, and collective action are related and what role self‐expansion plays in these relationships. In the pilot study, participants recalled their experience of participating in mass gatherings. The three other studies were conducted during mass gatherings organized for collective purposes: a music concert (Study 1), a bicycle activist event (Study 2), and Equality Days (Study 3). The results showed (a) a significant positive relationship between personal and group identity fusion, self‐expansion, and self‐efficacy (Study 1); (b) a significant mediating effect of self‐expansion on the relationship between personal and group identity fusion and group efficacy (Studies 1 and 2); and (c) a significant mediating effect of self‐ expansion and group efficacy on the relationship between identity fusion and collective action tendency (Studies 2 and 3).

Organizational Citizenship Behavior Predicts Quality, Creativity, and Efficiency Performance: The Roles of Occupational and Collective Efficacies

“…These studies extend the concept of CE to prosocial behaviors in the organization context. Although previous studies have found associations between group efficacy and collective action (Besta et al, 2017) and between CE and undergraduate students' performance in teams (Brown, 2003), as far as we know, no study has explored or found associations between CE and prosocial behaviors in organizational contexts.…”

Recent advances, misconceptions, untested assumptions, and future research agenda for identity fusion theory

“…And Talaifar et al (2020), found that students who were strongly fused with their university were more likely to remain in school up to a year later. Alternative studies indicate that one of the positive consequences of being fused with a group could be self‐expansion (Besta, Jaśkiewicz, Kosakowska‐Berezecka, Lawendowski, & Zawadzka, 2018), and that being fused with the romantic partner could lead to more constructive ways of coping with relationship conflicts and reduced vigilance for relationship threats (Walsh & Neff, 2018).…”

“…In contrast, strongly fused individuals reduce their willingness to fight and die for their group when they learn that other ingroup members would self‐sacrifice for it due to their moral principles and emotions toward the group as opposed to a pragmatic calculus about the costs and benefits associated to self‐sacrificial behavior (Paredes, Briñol, & Gómez, 2018). Regarding the mediators, a recent research has revealed two additional mechanisms, feelings of self‐expansion and group‐eficacy beliefs, that operate sequentially (Besta et al, 2018). These studies were conducted during various mass gatherings, including music festivals, a demonstration of bicycle activists and cycling lovers, and a protest of LGBT right supporters.…”

Fusion with political leaders predicts willingness to persecute immigrants and political opponents

“…By doing so, followers' own perceived efficacy and resources increase and they may gain or perceive that they gain access to some of their leader's rewards (see 16 ). Although this motivation has not been established in terms of fusion with an individual, recent research shows that self-expansion and, consequently, an increased sense of efficacy and agency, play important roles in the effects of identity fusion on collective action 19,20 . Hence, because fusing with other individuals can help people expand their self and thereby obtain new perspectives and capabilities (for instance, increased self-confidence, perceived competence and other traits as demonstrated by Besta, et al 19 ), fusion can indeed have a self-enhancing function.…”